Abandoned by Booklikes

Well damn, a Dean Koontz book made me cry. The last one that made me cry was "Odd Thomas." This book hits me everywhere. Though I could have done without the whole ssnap guy (Vince) the rest of the book just works perfectly. I loved the characters (Travis and Nora) I fell in love with Einstein and also with everyone along the way who wanted to keep Einstein free. This book hits all the feels and I can see now why after the success of this book Koontz had to just have a dog in every book he put out. I still wish he stop that though.

"Watchers" starts off with Travis Cornell out in the mountains when he comes across a golden retriever. The animal will not allow Travis to cross down a path in the woods and feeling something ominous, Travis ends up taking the dog home with him. Over time Travis starts to realize that the dog he nicknames fur face and then calls "Einstein" is quite special. 

We then transition over to Nora Devon who is living alone in her dead aunt's home. Nora's aunt was not loving and constantly told Nora how she was not pretty enough, a mouse (not a cat) and how she would be better off staying away from men. Now that she's gone Nora feels adrift, but wants to change her life. Things do change for her when she comes across Travis and Einstein in a park after a terrible encounter with a man who is hell-bent on stalking Nora.

And then Koontz introduces a crazed killer (Vince) who has ties to Einstein in some way we don't know and then a mysterious agency man who is tracking to track down Einstein as well. 

Koontz develops all of the characters (except Vince) quite well. We even are able to get shifting points of views about something darker than Vince that appears to be after Einstein as well. Koontz always goes over board in my opinion with his villains and Vince was definitely too much for me. 

The writing really works here and a few times can move a reader to tears. The flow actually works as well though I admit I started skipping Vince's sections because they were too grim even for me. Also Vince seems to be a precursor to the killer in Koontz's "Intensity" novel. One of these days I will get around to posting a review for that book too. 

“Plain, homely women like you and me will never lead a glamorous life, never go to exotic places. So books have a special value to us. We can experience most everything vicariously, through books. This isn’t bad. Living through books is even better than having friends and knowing . . . men.”

 

Good lord. I love books but this whole sentiment had me wanting to hug Nora. Her aunt was vile.

"We have a responsibility to stand watch over one another, we are watchers, all of us, watchers, guarding against the darkness."

 

We do and this sentence actually made me cry. 

The setting of the book takes place in the late 1980s. Half the things that Travis and Nora do to avoid detection would probably be impossible now and I pretty much laughed at Travis making a ton of money in real estate. That said, the heart of the story (two people who love a dog) is what keeps this story so timeless. At least in my head.

The ending was delightful and I loved every bit of this terrific book.